Tabulating card reader card drive structure



March 11, 1969 Sheet Filed Feb. 11, 1965 FiG. l

INVENTOR.

EDWIN 0. BLODGETT ATTORNEY March 11, 1.969 E. o. BLODGETT TABULATINGCARD READER CARD DRIVE STRUCTURE sheet 2 of 14 Filed Feb. 1l, 1965 Marchll, 1969 E. o. BLODGETTy 3,432,644

TABULATING CARD READER CARD DRIVE STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 11, 1965 sheet 3of 14 Merch 11, 1969 E. e. eLeeeEw 3,432,644

TABULATING CARD READER CARD DRIVE STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 11, 196s sheet 4ef 144 March 1l, 1969 E. o. BLQDGETT 3,432,644

TABULATING CARD READER CARD DRIVE STRUCTURE I Filed Feb. 11, 1965 March11, 1969 E. o. BLoDGr-:TT 3,432,644

I TABULATING CARD READER' CARD DRIVE STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 11, 1965 sheete March 11, 1969 TABULATING Filed Feb. 11, 1965 E. O. BLODGETT CARDREADER CARD DRIVE STRUCTURE March 1l, 1969 E. o. BLoDGr-:TT

TABULATING CARD READER CARD DRIVE STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 1l, 1965 Sheet w.Esi-55.5252.:- ...l-mm

March 11, 1969 E. Q. BLQDGETT 4 3,432,644=

TABULATING CARD READER GARD DRIVE STRUCTURE 3,432,644 TABULJATING CARDREADER CARD DRIVE STRUCTURE Filed Feb. l1, 1965 March 11, 1969 E. o.BLoDGL-:TT

Sheet March ll, 1969 E. o. BLODGETT 3,432,544

TAGLATING CARD READER GARD DRIVE STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 11, 1965 sheet of14 co N March 1l, 1969 E. o. BLODGETT I TABULATING CARD READER CARDDRIVE STRUCTURE sheet /2 of14 Filed Feb. ll, v1965 lMalrch 11, 1969 E.o. BLoDGET-r TABULATING CARD READER CARD DRIVE STRUCTURE sheet /3 of 14Filed Feb. 1l, 1965 March 11, 1969 E. o. BLODGETT TABULATING CARD READERCARD DRIVE STRUCTURE Sheet Filed Feb. 1l, 1965 United States Patent O 3Claims ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLSURE A punched card transport system havingfirst and second card driving means for advancing individual cards pasta read station in a step-by-step manner at iirst and secondpredetermined different rates. The two driving means are coupledtogether through differential gearing. First and second clutch means areselectively energized to engage the selected drive means to drive thecards at the selected speed. The diiferential gearing holds thenonselected drive means motionless while the selected one is powered.

The present invention relates to tabulating card readers.

The invention more particularly relates to tabulating card readers whichfeed successive cards from an input card hopper, transport the cardsendwise through a reading zone to an output hopper, and at the readingzone sense columns of coded apertures representative of codedinformation items and convert the sensed apertures to correspondingcoded electrical signals representative of the information items.

The tabulating card reader of the invention is an improvement of thetabulating card reader disclosed in applicants copending applicationSer. No. 249,228, tiled J an. 3, 1963, and in the Wilbur C. Ahrnscopending application Ser. No. 249,202, also led on Ian. 3, 1963, bothapplications being assigned to the same assignee as the presentapplication.

The reader of these copending applications accepts single tabulatingcards manually inserted into reading position in the reader, andtransports the cards endwise through a reading zone where an aligned rowof leversupported pivotal star wheels mechanically senses successivecolumns of coded apertures representative of successive items of codedinformation. Upon the sensing of a code aperture by a star wheel, thesupport lever of the latter moves and permits a mechanically driveninterposer to close the contacts of an individual contact stack.Electrical interconnection of the contacts in these contact stacksenables conversion of the coded apertures in each card column to codedelectrical signals representative of the corresponding item ofaperture-recorded coded information. The tabulating card moves atconstant velocity past the star-wheel reading zone of the reader, may becontrollably halted at any card column, and drops by gravity into anoutput card hopper upon completion of reading of all card columns.

The rate at which a tabulating card is read by the reader just describedis usually fixed by the rate at which the information read from a cardmay be utilized by associated equipment. It is often desired to utilizelonly a portion of the information recorded by the card, and in theseinstances a fixed reading rate is undesirable since appreciable time isrequired to read that portion of the recorded information which is notutilized. It accordingly would be desirable in these instances to skipover the nonutilized recorded information at high reading rate yet so tocontrol the reading operation as to return to the lower reading rate forutilization of even a single selected column of recorded data.

3,432,644 Patented Mar. 11, 1959 ICC It is an object of the presentinvention to provide a new and improved tabulating card reader, and onepos? sessing the desirable operation characteristics enumerated above.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel tabulatingcard reader adapted to select and read successive cards from a stackthereof supplied to the reader, and in so doing to skip portions of someor all cards at a high rate of speed and yet to read the remainingportions at a normal rate of speed.

It is an additional object of the invention to provide an improvedtabulating card reader having utility in numerous and diverseapplications as a source of data information rapidly and accuratelypresented in a wide variety of forms suitable for computation anddocumentation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear as thedetailed description thereof proceeds in the light of the drawingsforming a part of this application, in which:

FIGURE l is a perspective view of a tabulating card reader embodying thepresent invention;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational interior view of the tabulating card readershown in FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational interior View of the opposite side of thetabulating card reader shown in FIG- URE 2; I

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational interior view of the reader shown inFIGURE 1 showing certain of the parts with portions thereof and detailsthereof omitted for clarity;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view of that portion of the componentsadapted to advance the card through the reader shown in FIGURES 4 and 8and taken along line 5 5 therein;

FIGURE 6 is a detail view of certain of the components shown in FIGURE 5and taken along line 6-6 therein;

FIGURE 7 is a detail view of the parts shown in FIG- URE 6 and takenalong line 7-7 therein;

FIGURE 8 is a developed view of a portion of the arrangement ofcomponents shown in FIGURE 5 taken along line 8-8 therein;

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged detail view of a single tooth gearingarrangement shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 10 is an elevational cross-sectional view of the upper portion ofthe reader to illustrate the construction, arrangement and character ofoperation of the tabulating card reading components in relation toinitiation of each card reading operation of the reader;

FIGURE 1l is a partially sectioned detail view of the program drum andassociated components shown in th general arrangement of parts of FIGURE4;

FIGURE 12 is a sectional view of the program drum and associatedcomponents taken along line 12-12 in FIGURE 11;

FIGURE 13 is an end view of the program drum shown in FIGURE 11 andtaken along a section thro-ugh the shaft thereof viewed at line 13-13 inFIGURE l1;

FIGURE 14 is a cross-sectional view of the tabulating card readeraccording to the invention showing the relationship of the variouscomponents associated with the input and output storage of the cards andthe advancing of the cards therebetween;

FIGURE 15 is a developed view of the driving mechanism for advancing thecards and taken along line 15--15 in FIGURE 14;

FIGURE 16 is an elevational view of the input hopper shown in FIGURE 14and taken along line 16-16 there- 1n;

FIGURE 17 is a section view of the input hopper and associatedcomponents shown in FIGURE 16 and taken along line 17-17 therein,showing the components thereof in poised position ready to advance acard;

FIGURE 18 is a partial view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 17 showingthe components thereof at the position assumed when a card has beenadvanced from the pack;

FIGURE 19 is a partial view taken along line 19-19 in FIGURE 17;

FIGURE 20 is a portion of the input hopper structure associated with theportion shown in FIGURE 19;

FIGURE 21 is a view of the structure shown in FIG- URE 20 taken alongline 21-21 therein; and

FIGURE 22 is a detail section view taken along line 22-22 in FIGURE 8.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, there is illustrated a tabulating card readerembodying the present invention in a particular form. The readerconveniently includes an outer console envelope having a front panel 31with an input tabulating card hopper 32 at the upper portion thereof andan output card hopper 33 at a lower portion thereof, all as shown inFIGURE 1, and supporting a series of control electrical switches 31a4useful in manually controlling the reader operation and the selectionof various available card read programs.

As will be best understood by recourse to FIGURES 2 and 3, a motor 34(FIGURE 2) is appropriately belted to drive two clutch shafts 35 and 36at different speeds. Shaft 35 constitutes a high or skip speed shaft andshaft 36 constitutes a low or read speed Shaft. The shafts 35 and 36 areselectively effective to cause reading of a card 81a picked from a pack81 in input hopper 32 during passage of the card endwise along a readingstation intermediate the traverse between input hopper 32 and outputhopper 33. Throughout this specification, it will be understood thatreference to a card 81a refers to any card in the stack of cards 81, inits identity as a picked card progressing through the reader. As will behereinafter described in detail, a program drum 38 (FIGURE 3) operatesto select which of the two drive shafts 35 and 36 are effective, andconsequently whether or not a particular portion of the field of thecard in the reading station is read at reading speed or skipped -at highspeed.

With additional reference to FIGURE 4, motor 34 includes motor shaft 39which carries a pair of belt pulleys 40 and 41. Pulley 40 drives highskip speed clutch shaft 35 via belt 42 and pulley 43. The shaft 35 speedis slightly reduced, in the illustrative embodiment, relative to themotor shaft 39 speed. Pulley 41 on motor shaft 39 drives read speedshaft 36 through a speed reduction drive comprising the belt 44connection of motor pulley 41 to pulley 45 on idler shaft 46, and thencethe belt 47 connection of pulley 48 on idler shaft 46 to pulley 49 onread speed clutch shaft 36. Because of the intermediate speed reductionpulleys and 48, the read shaft 36 speed is a small fraction of the skipshaft 35 speed.

As may be seen by additional reference to FIGURES 5 through 8, the readclutch shaft 36 is journalledat one end by a bearing structure 50 in aside plate 51 and is journalled near the opposite end by a bearingstructure 52 in a side plate 53. The shaft 36 is driven by pulley 49through the wrap spring clutch 54, which is itself also journalled inIbearing structure 52. The clutch 54 is of conventional constructionsuch as illustrated in FIGURES 4 to 7 of U.S. Patent No. 2,927,158,except that (FIG- URES 2 and 8 herein) four detent protuberances 55a andkeeper notches 55b are provided on the respective clutch housing 55e andkeeper member 55d and four knock-off lobes are provided on the clutchcam 56 rather than the pairs of these elements illustrated for the 180clutch construction of the patent last mentioned. The clutch 54,according to the energization or deenergization of its controlelectromagnet, is thus operative at 90 rotational angles of the shaft 36to connect the shaft or to disconnect it from the pulley 49 and thenceto the source of driving power in motor 34.

Similarly, the high speed skip shaft 35 is journalled at one end in abearing structure 57 in side plate 51, while the opposite endl thereofis journalled in bearing structure 58 in side plate 53. A. high speedwrap spring clutch 59 corresponds in structure and operation to readspeed clutch 54 already described. Specifically, the clutch 59 connects,at 90 angles of the shaft 35, the power-driven pulley 43 to the shaft 35in the manner already described, `by means of the four detentprotuberances 69a and keeper notches 60]? on the respective clutchhousing 60e and keeper member 60d, and four knock-off lobes are providedon clutch cam 61.

The reader includes la shaft 64 carrying a tabulating card main driveroll 62 fabricated with spaced card-engaging driving discs 63. The shaft64 is journalled in side plates 51 and 53 at bearing structures '79 and80. The program drum 38 is carried on the opposite side of bearingstructure 79 by an extension of shaft 64 so that program drum 38 isdriven by, and rotated in synchronization with, drive roll 62. The maindrive roll 62 is provided with a gear 65 which is driven from eitherhigh skip speed shaft 35 or read speed shaft 36 by means of a trainincluding `a differential gear arrangement.

Thus, differential shaft 68 is journalled at opposed end portions toside plates 51 and 53 by bearing structures 69 and 70 respectively. Onshaft 68 is a differential gear box including a `bevel gear 71 free torotate on shaft 68 and a bevel gear 73 also free to rotate on shaft 68.Bevel gears 71 and 73 are free of each other, but are mutually meshedwith planetary gear 72 which is free to rotate on a stud 72a which issecured at right angles to shaft 68. Bevel gear 71 rotates in tandemwith gear 74, and bevel gear` 73 rotates in tandem with gear 66. Gear 74is meshed with gear 75 which is yfixed to high skip speed shaft 35,while gear 67 is meshed to gear 66 which is xed to read speed shaft 36.Gear 77 is fixed to shaft 68 and is meshed with gear 78 which is free torotate on high speed shaft 35. Gear 76 is fixed in tandem to gear 78,and is meshed with gear 65 of drive roll 62.

The objective of the arrangement is to allow drive of roll 62, andthereby drive of the card 81a, in precise manner such that when thedrive roll 62 stops, an index column on cards 81a will always be exactlyaligned with the star wheels 122, regardless of changing lback and forthbetween low speed drive from shaft 36 and high speed drive from shaft35. To that end, either of shafts 35 and 36 is held motionless while theother shaft is driving, so that when the motionless shaft resumes thedriving it does so from the aligned orientation, as aforesaid, at whichit was last stopped.

Tracing the train of driving elements will illustrate this. Assume thatclutch 54 was deenergized and clutch 59 was energized. Read speed shaft36 will have stopped in the aforesaid `aligned position due to theaction of clutch 54. Power at high skip speed shaft 35 is transmitted togear 75 thereon, and hence to gear 74 and bevel gear '71. Since thelatter two gears are free on shaft 68, they do not directly turn thatshaft. Gear 71 tends, through planetary gear 72, to turn gear 73 andthus gear 67. However since three reversals of sense of rotation wouldthus be involved from shaft 35 to shaft 36, that would cause shaft 36 toreverse from its usual sense, and clutch 54, being 0f one-wayconstruction, will not allow that. Gears 73 and 67 are thus stoppedrelative to gear 66 which is stopped Vby clutch 54. The turning tendencyof gear 71 causes planetary gear 72 to roll around the now fixed gear73, and this propels shaft 68 to which gear 72 is radially fixed by stud72a. The rotation of shaft 68 drives gear 76 via gears 77 and 78, andgear 76 drives drive roll 62 via gear 65. The interaction of the trainof elements is thus such that shaft 35 drives drive roll 62 while shaft36 is held fixed.

Now assume that clutch 59 is deenergized while clutch 54 is energized.High skip speed shaft 35 will have stopped in an aligned position due tothe action of clutch 59. Power is thereafter fed `from gear 66 on shaft36 to gears 67 and 73 on shaft 68. Gears 71 .and 74 on shaft 68 cannotrotate, because their driven sense would cause shaft 35 to rotateopposite to its normal sense. Clutch 59 thus stops gear 75 and therebygears 74 and 71, and thus gear 73 forces planetary gear 72 to rollaround the now fixed gear 71 thus propelling shaft 68 with it. Shaft 68thereby drives drive roll 62, again through gears 77, 78, 76, and 65.The interaction ofthe train of elements is such that shaft 36 drivesmain drive roll 62 while shaft 35 is held fixed.

The ratio of the various gears is chosen to propel drive roll 62 atspeeds proportional to the speeds of respective pulleys 43 and 49.Additionally the gearing is chosen so that whichever 'shaft is doing thedriving, a 90 advance thereof causes an advance of drive roll 62 suchthat the circumferential travel thereof is equal to the distance betweenadjacent index-point columns on a card 81a driven thereby.

Referring now additionally to FIGURE 10, a tabulating card 81a is movedlengthwise from the input card hopper 32 into reading position in thereader. In the home position of the reader, at which the reading of eachtabulating card begins, spaced ones of the main drive roll disc 63 areprovided with project-ing stop portions 82 which engage the end ofthetabulating card 81a upon insertion ,of the card into readingposition inthe reader.

The reader is. also provided with -a card feed pressure roll 83 (FIGURE8) fabricated with spaced discs 84 in opposed relation to discs 63. Thepressure roll 83 is rotatably supported upon a shaft 85 extendingbetween side arms 86 and.87 which are 4secured to shaft 88 which isrotationally supported by side plates I51 and 53. The pressure rolly 83is provided at, one end with a gear 89 in meshed engagement with thegear 65 on main drive roll 62. This meshable relationship of the gears`89 and 65 is maintained even during intervals when the main drive roll62 and pressure roll 83 are moved to spaced relation near the end ofe-ach card reading operation. This spacing of the rolls is accomplishedby segmental gears 90 and 91 provided as shown (FIGURES 8 and 9) inaxially aligned positions on the corresponding roll-62-carried-disc 92,respectively, in cooperation with the engagable similarly alignedone-tooth gear segments 93, 9'4, provided at opposed ends of pressureroll 83.

Upon separation of the main drive roll 62 and pressure roll 83, byrotational engagement of the segmental gears 90, 91, with theirassociated one-tooth gear segments 93, 94, as occurs once for eachcomplete revolution of the main drive roll 62, both of the pressure rollsupporting arms 86, 87, are moved into latched engagement ,vwith'individual ones of a pair of latch arms 95 (FIG- URES-2 and 5-7) whichare secured on a sleeve 96 rotatably supported onal Ishaft 97 extendingbetween the side plates 51, 53. The latch arms 95 are biased intolatching position'by a helical wire spring 98. An arm 95a on each latch95-is connected to a mutual strap 99 extending therebetween which' formsan armature for the pole pieces of electromagnets 100 supported on abracket 101 l extending between the side plates '51, 53.

The initial conditioning of the reader for each new card readingoperation is accomplished by brief electric energization of theelectromagnets 100, which attract the bracket 101 and rotate the latcharms 95out of engagement with latch notches 102 provided on the remoteends of the pressure roll 83 supporting arms 86, 487. The latter arebiased by helical wire springs 103 for rotation of the shaft 88 toengage the pressure roll 83 against a tabulating card inserted intoreading position in the reader and thus press the tabulating cardagainst the discs 63 of the main driveroll 6-2. The gears 89 and V93eiect positive drive of the pressure roll 83 from the main drive roll 62so that Iboth rolls are eifective in drivingly transporting the cardthrough the reader. This double-roll drive of the card avoids anypossibility of slippage between the card and the main drive roll 162 sothat successive index-point columns of the card are always accuratelypositioned for reading. Subsequent successive brief energizations of theelectromagnet 223 of the read speed clutch 54 or the electromagnet 224high skip speed clutch 59, effects step-bystep transport of thetabulating'card by drive of the main drive roll 62, from, respectively,lshaft 36 or shaft 35, each such step transport of the cardcorresponding to the space between successive index-point columns of thecard.

The pressure roll supporting -arms 86 and 87 are guided in theirrotational movement on the shaft '88 by onetooth comb ybrackets 104mounted on individual L-shaped brackets 105 -secured to the respectiveside walls 51 and 53. One of the brackets 105 also supports anelectrical contact assembly 106 (FIGURES 5 and 7) having movablecontacts which are actuated by an L-shaped bracket 107 secured to thearm87. Inparticular, the contacts of the cont-act assembly 106 are inopen-contact position when the pressure roll 83 is latched in spacedrelation to the main drive vroll 62, and are actuated to closed-contactposition when the pressure roll 83 is unlatched and moves to cardengaging position. These electrical contacts are used in providing anindication in the electrical control system of the reader as to Whetheror not the pressure roll 83 is in' its card engaging position.

As shown more clearly in FIGURES 8 and 22, the main drive roll 62 isprovided at one end with a cam disc 10-8 having on its periphery asingle notch 109- engagable bya pivoted feeler lever 1.10 which operatesa micro- .switch 111 mounted on a bracket 112 secured to side wall 51.The notch 109 of the cam disc 108 is located at the earlier mentionedhome position of the main drive roll 62. This is the position at whicheach tabulating card reading operation of the reader terminates and anew reading operation subsequently begins, and the operation of themicroswitch 111 by the feeder lever 110l thus provides an indication inthe electrical control system of the reader as to whether or not thereader is at its home position. I

The read speed driven sh-aft 36 (FIGURE 8) is provided wiih a pluralityof spaced cams 11'3 which are xedly secured to rotate with the shaft.These cams oper- .ate individual-contact subassembles 114 (FIGURES)which are nonr-otatably positioned by a longitudinal slot 115 formed asshown in the upperface of the spacing bar 116 between side plates 51 and53, and which are secured to the bar 116 by machine screws 117. Thecoutact subassemblies 114 include a cam-follower arm 118 biased intocontact with the `associated cam 108 by a leaf spring 119 which also.through a plunger 120 actuates the movable contacts of an electricalcontact assembly 121. These electrical contacts are used in a morecomplete electricalcontrol. system in which the tabulating card readerforms one part.

The reader includes a plurality of tabulating-card-codeaperture-sensingstar Wheels 122 rotatably supported as shown in FIGURE l0 at the ends ofindividual bell cranks 123, of U-shaped cross section, pi-votallysupported Aupon a shaft 124 positioned within a notch 125 in a spacingbar 126 extending between side plates 51 and 53. The bell cranks v123`with their star wheels 122 are received bet-Ween the flanges 63 of themain drive roll 62 as illustrated in FIGURE 8. The star wheels of theseveral bell cranks 123 are aligned to sense concurrently eachsuccessive index-point column of the tabulating card transported throughthe reader, each of the star wheels sensing the code apertures in anindividual index-point row of the card. Each of the bell cranks 123 isbiased by a wire spring 127 toward code aperture sensing positionwherein its associated star wheel 122 senses the presence and absence ofcode apertures in the tabulating card. Consider, for example, the homeposition of the main drive roll 62 illustrated in FIGURE 10 where theprojecting stop portions 82 engage and preposition the leading end ofthe tabulating card 81 in readiness to begin a reading operation. Theleading end portion of the card has an -unperforated area preceding therst index-point column of the card and, accordingly, two adjacent teethof each star wheel 122 engage the surface of the card to maintain the`bell cranks 123 rotated to a counterclockwise position as seen inFIGURE 10. When a code aperture is sensed in the card by the star wheel122, a tooth of the star wheel projects through the code aperture andthus permits the associated bell crank 123 to rotate slightly in theclockwise sense (as viewed in FIGURE ).'These slight angular movementsof the bell cranks 123 are guided by a comb 128 secured to the spacingbar 126.

AThe remote ends of the bell cranks 123 are provided with a at latchportion 129. In the non-aperture sensing position of each bell crank123, as illustrated in FIGURE l0, the latch portion 129 is positioned tobe engaged by an individual one of a plurality of pivotally supportedreciprocal interposers 130* to restrict the range of reciprocal motionof the latter effected in a manner presently to be described. In theaperture sensingposition of the bell crank 123, the latch portion 129 ofthe bell crank is positioned beneath its associated interposer 136 andthus does not limit the range of reciprocal motion of the interposer.

All of the interposers 130 are reciprocallyguided by grooves formed inthe upper portion of the spacing bar 131. Each interposer has anS-shaped end portion 132 biased by a helical wire spring 133, extendingbetween the interposer end portion 132 and a spring anchor plate 134secured to the spacing bar 126, into engagement with a bail 135. Thelatter is supported at its ends by bell cranks 136 pivoted on individualstuds 137 secured to the side plates 51 and 53 of the reader. The bail135 and its supporting bell cranks 136 are reciprolcated through a cycleof angular motion during each 90 rotation of the driving shaft (35 or36) which, as previously explained, causes the main drive roll 62 toadvance the tabulating card from one-of its index-point columns toanother.

This reciprocatory motion of the bail 135 and its supporting bell crankarms 136l is accomplished by a cam follower 138 which is fixed upon ashaft 139* having its ends fixed to the bell crank arms 1'36, the camfollower arm 138 being biased by a spring 140l into engagement with acam 141 fixedly secured to the read speeld shaft 36. As indicated inFIGURE 101I the cam 4141 has four repetitive lobe-like configurationsspaced by 90 corresponding to the four 90= angular rotational stepmovements of the shaft 36 under control of the clutch 54. Each of theserepetitive lobe configurations of the cam 141 includes a high step, anintermediate step, and a low step. In each angular halt position of theshaft 36 as controlled by the clutch 54, the cam follower 138 rests uponthe intermediate step of the cam 141 as indicated in FIG- URE 10. Thispositions lthe bail 135 such that the interposers 130 have their endsspaced a short distance from the latch portion 129 of each of the starWheel bell cranks 123.

For this position of the bail 135, all of the interposers 130 areengaged by an unlatch bail 142 which ls supported at its ends by arms143 ixedly secured'to a shaft 144 journalled in the side plates 51 and53. A cam follower 145 is secured to the shaft 144 and is biased by aspring 146 into engagement with a cam 147 secured on the read speedshaft 36 and having four raised lobes spaced 90 around the periphery ofthe cam 147. Upon engagement of the unlatch bail 142 with theinterposers 130 at a time when the cam follower 145 rests upon a lobe ofthe cam 147, the right hand ends of the interposers 130 (as seen inFIGURE l0) are depressed by the bail below the lower ends of individualones of a plurality of contact actuating levers 148 pivotally mounted ona shaft 149 supported between side walls 151)` and 151 (FIGURE 4) whichare in turn secured to side walls 51 and 53- respectively.

The contact actuating 4arms 148 may rotate through a small arc in amanner presently to be described, and are guided in this motion by acomb 152 supported between the side walls and 151. The upper end of thearms 148 engages oppositely disposed but axially aligned contactactuating pins 153 and 154 of two contact subassemblies 155 and 156,each having a base support member 157 upon which are mounted a stack ofelectriacl contacts 158. Each of the 'base members 157 has an end footportion 159 of rectangular cross-section which is received within andpositioned by an individual one of plural transverse grooves 160 milledinto the lower face of the spacing bar 161 and is positioned laterallywithin the groove by a set screw 162 having a lock nut 163 to lock theset screw in adjusted position. Each of the subassemblies 155 and 156 issecured in assembled relation with the spacing lbar 161 by a machinescrew 164 which extends through an elliptical aperture 165 of thespacing bar 161. The contact subassemblies 155 and 156 are positioned insets in opposing relation transversely lof the spacing bar 161 and thereare plural sets of such subassemblies spaced longitudinally of thespacing bar 161. The total number of these sets corresponds to thenumber of star wheel bell cranks 123 with which the reader is providedto read a tu'bulating card having the same number of index-point rows.Since the index-point rows of the tabulating card are conventionallyspaced more closely than it is conveniently feasible to space therelatively wider subassemblies 155 and 156 longitudinally of the spacingbar 161, the contact actuating levers 148 are offset from end to end.The amount of such offset varies with the relative position of a givenone of the interposers 130 and the position of the correspondingconta-ct subassembly set 158 and 159.

The contact actuating arms 148 are guided at their lower ends by a comb166 extending between and'secured ot vthe side plates 51 and 53. Theactuating arms 148 are biased 'by a spring 167, extending between eachactuating arm and an upturned forward edge ange 168 provided on the comb166, into engagement with the edge of a transverse stop bar 169 securedbeneath the comb 166. With the actuating arms 148 in engagement with thestop bar 169, the lower ends of the actuating arms overlie in latchingrelation the right-hand ends (as seen in FIG- URE l0) of the interposers130 and thus prevent the latter from pivoting about the bail 135 underbias of the springs 140. Also in this position of the actuating arms148, the electrical contacts of the contact subassembly 155 are inclosed contactv position and the electrical contacts of the subassembly156 are in open position.

Referring now additionally to FIGURES 11, 12, and 13, the program drum38 comprises a drum frame indicated generally at 170 which includes abuttvend 171 and a hu'b end 172 which respectively acceptsithe shaft 64and accepts and journals the shaft end 64a. A lcylindrical 'outerannulus 173 is integrally supported in axial relation to hub 172 andbutt 171 by a web 174 at each respectively. A key member 175 iscoaxially mounted relative vto both shaft 64 and outer annulus 173, andincludes an extension 176 which is axially keyed to outer annulus 173. Aset screw 177 locks key member 175 to shaft 64, and thereby rotationallylocks outer annulus 173 and thus drum frame 170 to shaft 64.

The drum frame butt end 171 includes an end plate 178. A removableannular end member 1'79 is provided and adapted to slidably t over theouter annulus 173 of drum frame 170. A plurality of program rings 180are axially fit over the outer annulus 173, for a purpose to Ibehereinafter described. The length of outer annulus 173 is such as toaccept an integral pliLrality of program rings 181) and end member 179upon the annulus 173 and in abutment with end plate 178. Hub end 172 lisprovided with external threads 181 and terminates in a knob 182. Acalibrated index disc 183 is axially engaged upon threads 181 andcarries peripherally (FIGURE 13) a series of numerals and numeral pointsranging fromv to 80. By turning the index disc 183 upon threads 181 sothat it approaches end plate 178, an assembly of program rings 180 andend member 179 may be axially secured on outer annulus 173.

Each program ring 180 is preferably fabricated of a relatively low tearor shear strength material, such as plastic, for a purpose to bedescribed. While many plastics and nonplastics may be employed, oneexample is to fabricate rings 180 in phenol-formaldehyde resin. Eachring 180 includes a base annular portion 180a and a raised annularportion 180b. The base portion 18011` functions to axially space thesuccessive raised portions 180b when a plurality of rings 180 areaxially mounted on annulus 173. The raised annulus portion 180b of eachring includes spaced division into a number of teeth 180C (FIGURE 12).The number of teeth 180e occupying the raised annulus 180b will dependupon the number of index-points contained in each row of the card 81a.It is usual with Hollarith cards to employ eighty indexpoints in eachrow, and in such a system eighty-live teeth 180C are employed and eightyare indexed at index disc 183. In al1 cases the number of teeth 180e`will be at least equal to the number of index-points in each row of card81a, and preferably a few greater, as for example, the five greater inthe illustrated eighty-five t-ooth rings. The number of rings 180employed on drum 38 corresponds to the number of rows in card 81, and inthe Hollarith card system twelve rings will be employed as illustratedin 'FIGURE 11. An index-point on card 81 has plural coordinates (row andcolumn) and is thereby uniquely correlatable to a specific one of teeth180C on a specific one of rings 180. Each ring 180 is held againstrotational movement upon outer drum annulus 173 by a key 180:13 integralwith each ring 180, which axially rides in a groove 180e in drum outerannulus 173.

While the above-described use of separate program rings 180 on programdrum 38 is convenient and preferred, it is also possible to fabricatethe member occupying the outer annulus 173 of drum 38 as asingle'unitary construction (still with teeth 180C) rather than as aplurality of separate rings 180. Also, it is not necessary that thestructure occupying annulus 173 including the teeth 180C, be fabricatedin al breakable material as aforesaid. This is true whether separaterings or the aforesaid unitary structure occupies annulus 173. In thatcase, other materials may be chosen for the structure occupying annulus173, and rather than being breakably removable as aforesaid, teeth 180Cmay instead be individually keyed or otherwise removably and replaceablyconnected to the program drum 38. Finally, it is not necessary that thestructure immediately carrying teeth 180C be a separate component ofdrum 38. Particularly when teeth 180C are arranged to be replaceable,i.e., removable without breaking, it may be advantageous to employ amore unitary program drum 38.

A contact assembly support frame i184 (FIGURES 11 and 12) is secured toside plate 51 by machine screws 185 and 186 through flanges 187 and 188respectively. A shaft 189 is carried between the arm 190 and the flange191 of support frame 184. A contact plate 192 has a pair of anges 193-which are rotatably mounted on shaft 1189. The main body of contactplate 192 is thereby pivotable about shaft 1189 within the embrace ofportions 190 and 191 of support frame A184. Through an aperture 194 inplate 192 passes a pair of helical springs 195.`The springs 195 aresecured to spring mounts 196- on plate 192 and to spring mounts 197 onsupport frame 184, by respective screws 198 and 199. Springs 195 therebyact to bias plate 192 in the counter-clockwise direction about shaftl189, as viewed in FIGURE 12.

A shaft 200 is rotatably mounted within arm 190 of frame support 184 atcircular aperture 201 and is journalled at groove 200a of iiange 191 bya pin 202. At the free end of shaft 200 is secured a `knob 203 bearing alever 204, for the purpose of manually rotating shaft 200 within alimited arc. A stop member 205 (FIGURE 12) fixedly secured to shaft 200is provided with two circular outer portions, 205a and 205b, the latterportion being of smaller radius, and the two portions 205:1 and 205bcooperate to define stops 206 and 207. A pin 209 is iixedly secured toframe support 184 so as to be located from the center of shaft 200 adistance slightly greater than that of surface 205b, so as to interceptstops 206 and 207 respectively during counter-clockwise and clockwiserotation (as viewed in FIGURE 12) of shaft 200. The stops 206 and 207are situated about apart, and consequently lever 204 with shaft 200 maybe rotated within a 180 arc.

Also xedly secured to shaft 200 is a pair of eccentric cams 208, locatedat axial positions on shaft 200 respectively near portions and 191 offrame support 184. The cams 208 have a high portion 208a and a lowportion 20811 spaced approximately 180 apart, with intermediate portions208e diminishing from the high to the low portions. At a position onframe 192 adjacent each cam is provided a set screw 2104 which acts as acam follower for the associated cam. The cams 208 are fixed on shaft 200with relation to the fixed positions on shaft 200 of stops 206 and 207so that when shaft 200 is stopped by stop 206 the high point of cams 208has slightly overridden the followers 210, while when the shaft 200 isstopped by stop 207 the low point of cams 208 has not quite reached thefollowers 210. The slight override and underride promotes stability ofthe followers on the cam at the stop 206 and stop 207 positions. Thecams 208 thereby are effective to pivot the plate 1'92 about shaft 189and against the bias of springs .195 in response to movement of lever204.

When plate 1192 is pivoted about shaft 189 by the action of lever 204and cams 208, end 192a of plate 1192 is pivoted toward and away from theouter periphery of program drum 38 as cams 208 are moved to the high andlow contacts with followers 210 respectively. Mounted at end 192a ofplate 192 is a plurality of program drum electrical contactsubassemblies 211. Secured to plate 192 is a dust cover 212 whichprotects the subassemblies 211 from damage. Each subassembly 211 ismounted at a position on plate 192 (FIGURE 11) aligned with the raisedannulus 180b of teeth 180e of respective ones of the program rings 180on the drum 38. There are thus, in the illustrated twelve-ring 180embodiment, twelve contact subassemblies 211 aligned therewith. It willbe apparent that if, as aforesaid, a unitary structure is employedinstead-of separate rings, teeth 180C will still be arranged incircumferential rows on drum 38, and consequently the same number andarrangement of contact subassemblies 211 may be emloyed.

Each contact subassembly 211 includes a terminal block 213 secured toplate 192 by a screw 214. Additional screws 215 and 216 hold theterminal block 213 together and constitute respectively electricalterminals for Contact arms 217 and 218, Contact arm 218 is passive,while contact arm 217 constitutes a spring normally biasing its contact217a against contact 218a of contact arm 218, so that the contacts arenormally closed. Carried at the extreme of end 192a of plate 192 is aseries of auges 192b which mutually carry a shaft 219. On shaft 219 andbetween adjacent pairs of flanges 192b, a roller arm 220 is provided foreach contact subassembly 211. The roller arm 220 is freely pivotable onshaft 219, and constitutes a pair of members y220a defining a slottherebetween (FIGURE 1l) and joined at one end by a pivot ferrule 22012which accepts shaft 219 and at the other end by a roller wheel 212. Atan intermediate point between the pair of members 220a is mounted anextension 222 which extends through an aperture 218b in contact arm 218and toward contact arm 217. When roller wheel 221 is riding on the outerperiphery of teeth 180C of the program ring raised annulus 180b, asillustrated in FIG- URE 1,2, the extension 222 reaches contact 217 andholds it against its spring bias and away from contact with contact arm218 so that contacts 217a, 218a, are open.

The diameter of roller wheel 221 is related to the spacing and depth ofteeth 180e of program ring 180. The normal spacing between teeth 180e isinsufficient to allow roller 221 to enter, so that extension 222 isessentially at a constant relation to contact arm 218 when normallyspaced teeth pass beneath roller 221. The contacts 21741, 21844, arethus normally held open by the presence of normally spaced teeth 180e.The spacing of teeth 1804v is also such, with relation to the diameterof roller 221, that even one missing tooth 1804: alows the roller 221 tomove to the right (as viewed in FIGURE 12) under the bias of contact arm217 via extension 222, a suiiicient distance so that contacts 21741,21841, are closed while the roller 221 occupies the position of themissing tooth. A series of ad jacent missing teeth induces a longerperiod of closed contacts 21741, 21841. Thus by breaking off (or, whereappropriate, by otherwise removing) selected teeth 180C on selected onesof program rings 180 (or, Where appropriate, in selected circumferentialrows in a unitary structure), a set of contacts 21741, 21844, can beclosed during selected periods corresponding to the presence of theaperture created by those missing teeth under the related one of theplurality of rollers 221. Since the program drum 38 is on a common shaftwith main drive roll 62, proper initial adjustment of the position ofthe missing teeth 180C by reference between index disc 183 and fixedpointer 229 (FIGURE 13) will close contacts 21741, 21841, duringtraverse of any desired one or more index-points on card 81 by starwheels 122. The signals derivable at the plurality of terminals 215,216, are utilized to control various functions of the reader, as will bemore fully described hereinbelow. One of these functions is theswitching from read speed to high skip speed `drive of card 8141.

Shaft `200 (FIGURE 12) carries a cam 225 which is active to press andrelease a contact arm 226 associated with microswitch 227 which ismounted to side plate 51 by S-shaped lbracket 228. Cam 225 is fixed toshaft 200 at a position to engage arm 226 and close the contacts ofmicroswitch 227 when cam 208 has its high position under cam follower210, as illustrated in FIGURE 11. At the low position of cam 208, cam225 is positioned to disengage arm 226, and arm 226 being spring biasedaway from microswitch 227, allows the contacts of microswitch 227 toopen.

Positioning lever 204 so that the low portion of cam 208 is under camfollower 210 allows contact subassembly 211 to move counter-clockwise,as viewed in FIGURE 12, so that rings 180 or the whole program drum 38may be removed and the like. However, such movement of subassembly 211away from program drum 38 also allows contacts 21741, 21841, to close.The microswitch 227 acts as an interlock in the circuit of contacts21741, 21841, such that a spurious signal produced at 21741, 21841, byturning of cam 208 to its low position `meets an open circuit atmicroswitch y227 because cam 225 has also thereby been turned todisengage arm 226.

Referring now additionally to FIGURES 14-21, the

input hopper 32 (FIGURE 14) is constructed to accommodate a pack ofindividual cards 81 between a back plate 230 and a pressure plate 231.The single example card 8141 is drawn from the face of deck 81 adjacentto back-plate 230, and then travels (FIGURE 18) from input hopper 32downwardly to the home position between card driving discs 63 and spaceddiscs 84 and thence through the reading position and along the pathindicated at 232 to the ouptut hopper 33. As aforesaid, any card of deck81 is designated herein as 8141 when it occupies the positionillustrated in the figures with that designation.

The -driving elements adapted to pick card 8141 from hopper 32 'anddeliver it to the home position between discs 63 and discs 84 include apicker 233 including a knife 234 (FIGURES 14, 17 and 18) secured to theuppermost portion thereof by a machine screw 235 so that an edge 236 ofthe knife 234 protrudes over the picker 233 body a distance just equalto or slightly less than the thickness of card 81a. Picker 233 isslidably mounted on vertical shaft 237 which is iixedly mounted toback-plate 230 by blocks 238 and 239. Shaft 237 is secured thereto byset screw 240, and a cushion 241 of hard rubber or similar material actsas a stop atop lower block 239. Picker 233 is thus adapted to Vride upand down shaft 237 between the position shown in FIGURE 17 and theposition shown in FIGURE 18 picking and driving a different card 8141 oneach downstroke.

Pressure plate 231 is secured by machine screws 242 to slide members 243and 244 which are mounted on rollers 245 so as to be free to reciprocateback and forth carrying pressure plate 231 toward and away frompressured contact with the deck of cards *81 in inlet hopper 32. As isbest shown in FIGURE l5, a pair of side plates 246 and 247 are securedat their lower portions to side plates 53 and 51 respectively. A shaft248 is rotatably journalled in side plates 246 and 247 lat bearingassemblies 249 and 250 respectively. Fixedly connected to shaft 248 is apair of crank arms 251 and 252 (FIGURE 14) .which each extends forwardto rotatably engage one of connecting arms 253 and 254, land whichextends backward to engage one of tension-biasing helical springs 255.The other end of each of connecting arms 253 `and 254 is rotatablyyattached to picker 233, and the other ends of springs 255 are attachedto side plates 246, 247, by brackets 256. Also xedly secured to shaft248 is an L- shaped cam follower arm 257 (FIGURE 14) bearing a cam wheel258. Arm 257 is tension-biased to bracket 256 by helical spring 259.Freely mounted on shaft 248 are a pai-r of cam follower arms 260 and261, mounted by cylinders 262 and 263 respectively, and carryingfollower wheels 264 and 265 respectively. Cylinders 262, 263, are freeto rotate on shaft 248, and are axially restrained by fixed shaft discs266 and 267.

Shaft 268 is rotation-ally journalled in side plates 246 and 247 atbearing assemblies 269 and 270 respectively. Fixedly attached to shaft268 is a cam follower arm 269 with foll-ower wheel 270. Also xedlyattached to shaft 268 is a pair of crank arms 271 and 272 which arerotationally connected respectively to a pair of connecting arms 273 and274 which are in turn rotationally connected to slide members 243 and244 respectively. Crank -arms 271 and 273 are biased near theirmidpoints by helical tension springs 275 -and 276 which are in turnsecured to side plates 246 and 247 respectively.

'Power shaft 277 is journalled in side plates 246 and 247 by bearingstructures 278 and 279. A clutch 280 connects coaxial pulley 281 withshaft 277. Clutch 280 is selectively electrically actuatable to driveshaft 277 `from pulley 281. Pulley 281 is driven via belt 282, frompulley 283 on idler shaft 284 journalled at bearings 285 and 286 betweenside plates 246 and 247. Idler shaft 284 is in turn driven at pulley 287thereon from pulley 288 on idler shaft 46 (FIGURES 2 and 14) via belt289. Idler shaft 46 is in turn driven from motor shaft 39 as alreadydescribed. Fixed to shaft 277 is a picker actuating cam 290 which iscontacted by follower wheel 258 of follower arm 257 so that shaft 248 isrotationally oscillated in response to the rotation of shaft 277. Apressure plate Vactuating cam 291 is fixed to shaft 277 and is contactedby follower wheel 270 of follower arm 269 so that shaft 268 isrotationally oscillated in response to the rotation of shaft 277. Fixedto shaft 277 is a pair of cams 292 and 293 which Vrespectivelyv arecontacted by follower wheels 264 `and 265 -of follower arms 260 and 261.Three small position indicating cams 294, 295, and 296, `are xed toshaft 277, and cooperate with microswitches 297, 298, and 299, throughfollower wheels 300, 301, and 302, all respectively, to indicate by theclosed condition of one or the other of the switches 297, 298, 299, theangular position of shaft 277, and thus to indicate the position ofpicker 233 and pressure plate 231. Signals derived from switches 297,298, 299, are utilizable fior controlling the reader to synchronize withthe hopper With more particular reference to FIGURES l7-2l inclusive,the input hopper itself includes a bracket 303

